San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1887-06-23
X IN G
Solomon Mines.
BY II. RIDrH HAGGAlsD.

| VI 81 N'NtAi" NllNlf Ilbppd Sllltul, Dul,
on the other hand stick to my friends, IL.
| nOsl You have stuck Ia us and played the
part of man, and | will stick to you. But
mind you | am trader and have to make
| my living 80 | accept your offer about
those diamonds in case we should ever be in
a position to avail ourselves of it, Another
thing, we rImr. as gu know To look for
| lncuUu'S 6 n 'nry 81 lost brother You
must help us to ind hlm."
That Will do answered lgnusi. stay,
lnfadUus by the sign Of the snake round my
middle, tell me the truth Has any white
man TO thy knowledge set his foot within
| the land?"
None, OH, IgnoSi.'
III any white mln has been seen or heard
| of, wOuIdSt thou nave known it?'
81 should certainly have knOwn."
Thou nearest, Iurubu," said Ignosi to
| Sir Henry, 'he has not been here
"Well, we'll" said Sir Henry, with Sigh:
there it is; suppose he never got here
| Poor fellow, poor fellow! So it his all been
| for nothing. GndS Will be done"
Now for business" 1 put it, anxious to
escape from painful subject 1T is all very
well I" be 4 king by right divine igmUsi, but
| how do you propose to be king indeed
| 1'''Ni INV" NV IlithOpof ittnt tllDu Il
plan?'
'lgnoSi, son Of the Lightning" answered
| his uncle ''tO night is the great dance and
| witch-hunt. Many will b. SIN He'd out ami
| perish AMI in the hearts Of many others
| there will be grief and anguish and anger
| against the king Twain. When the dance is
over, then will speak to some of the great
| chiefs, who in turn, il can win them over,
shall SinpLy IA thnir r,, I hall
to the chiefs softly at first and bring them to
| see that thou art indeed the king, and
| think that by tO-morrOw'S light thou shalt
have twenty THOUSAND spears at thy COM
| mand. And now must 90 and think. and
| make ready. After the dance is done will
| if | am yet alive, meet thee here, and we
will talk. A the best there will be war;
At this moment our conference was inter
rupted by the cry that messengers had come
| from the king. Advancing to the door of
the hut we ordered that they should be adj
| mitted, and presently three men entered,
each bearing shining shirt OF chain armOr
| and magnificent battle-ax
1.-THE gifts of my lord the king to the
white men from the starSw exclaimed
| herald who came with them.
I'VE thank the king" answered, with
| draw"
The men went. and we examined the ar
| NOR with great interest 1t was the most
| beautiful chan-wOrk we hat ever seen. A
Whole coat fell together so closely that ii
formed a mass of links scarcely too big TO
be covered with both hands.
''Do you make these things in this country,
Infadoos?' asked; "tht% are very beaut
full"
NAV, my lord, they com" down to us
from our fOrefath,rS. We know not who
made them, and there are but few left
| None but those of ROYAL blnnI may wear
them. They are magic coats through which
no spear can plSS. He who wears them is
wel-nigh safe in IL" battle. The king is
| well pleased or Iauch afraid, or he would
not have sent them. Wear them tonight
my lOrdS.'
The rest of the day we spent quietly rest
| ing and talking over the situation, which was
! sufficiently exciting. vt last the sun went
| down, the THOUSAND watcIl-iires glOwel out
| and through the darkness we heard the
| tramp OF many feet and the cashng ot hun
drcds of sprIrs as the regiments passed to
| their appointed places to be ready for the
! great dance.
About ten the full moon came up in splen.
uDl. anu Us W. SUOMI Ndltllll8 llfI dSttIll
| fadOoS arrived, clad in full war tOggery, and
accompanied by guard of twenty men to
escort us to the dance. We had already as
recommended, dOnned the shirts OF chain
armor which the king had sent us, putting
them under our ordinary clothing, and find
in". to our surprise, that they We're neither
vrr} heavy nor uncomfortable. These steel
shirts, which had evidently been made fOr
of Lon st,,ttt hot
loosely upon Good myself Then strap
| ping our reyO,verS round our waists. and
taking the battle-aXri which the king had
sent with the armOr in our hands, we
started.
On arriving at the great kraal, where we
had that morning been interviewed By the
King. we found that it was closely packed
with some twenty thousand men arranged
IN regiments around 1t. The regiments
were in turn divided into companies, and
between each COMPANY was little path TO
allow free passage to the witch-indrrS tu
pass up and down. Anything more imposing
than the sight that was presented by tins
vast and orderly conc urrc OF armed mn il
was impossible Ia conceive. There they
stood perfectly silent, and the bright moon
light poured its light upon the forest Of their
raised spears, upon their majestic forms,
waving plumcS, and the harmonious shading
OF their various cOIOrrd shields. Wherever
we looked was line upon line of set faces
surmOmtrd by range upon range of glitter.
Ing spears.
surely" said to lnfadoos, the whole
army is here?
NAY, MaCumazahn" he answered, but a
third part of it. OnP-third is present at this
dance each year, another third part is must
cred outside in case there should be trouble
when killing begins, ten THOUSAND more gar
risOn the OutpOstS rOumd Loo, and the +. st
watch at the krilals in the country. Thou
secst it is very great people"
They are very silent said Good; and in
deed the intense stiffness "mong such vast
cOnCOurSe of hymg men was almost over
towering.
What says BOugwan?7 asked InfadOos.
| translated.
"ThOSe over whom the shadow of Death is
lowering are silent" he answered, grimly.
"Wil many be killed.
Very many"
at seems" said TO the Others, that we
are going to assist at q gladiatnriaI show ar
ranged regardless of expense"
Sir Henry shivcred and Good said that he
wished we could get out of it.
Tell me-" | asked lniadOos, ARE we in
danger?'
not be afraid. II We live through the night
all may go well. The soldiers IurmuI
against the king"
All this while we had been advancing
steadily toward the center Of the Qp n space.